Conventional mailboxes are typically not secure by design. When a letter carrier delivers correspondence or small packages to a conventional mailbox, the items deposited therein remain within easy reach, and sometimes even within obvious view, of casual passers-by. Anyone desiring to examine or to procure the contents of such a mailbox need overcome no significant physical barriers in order to gain access to incoming or outgoing mail placed there.
Conventional mailboxes are also typically not designed to hold more than one or two days' mail deliveries. During even a short vacation or hospital stay, mail can fill an absent homeowner's conventional mailbox and overflow such that further deliveries by the letter carrier are no longer practical or possible.
Though many mailboxes are equipped with doors, flaps, or other closure elements, they are nevertheless inadequate with respect to protecting their contents from inclement weather when the mailbox is very full such that the door cannot close properly.
There has been a continuing need, therefore, for an effective enclosure for receiving and temporarily storing delivered mail in such a way as to protect it from the elements and to prevent its theft. A security mailbox designed to meet these needs should be simply constructed with minimal moving parts and at the same time should be made to conform with the strict requirements of the postal service.